All You Had To Do Was Stay
by OneHarlowPierce
Summary: AU: After the horrible turn of events during Family Day; Mal,Evie,Jay and Carlos decide to start a new life away from Auradon. As they try to move on and start over, they will realize that getting rid of the ghosts from their pasts will not be easy, and it will be impossible to escape them all. Ben/Mal. Evie/Doug. Carlos/Jane. Jay/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there! Hope you guys enjoy this little story. It's an AU starting right after the Family Day disaster on the movie... It will alternate POV every once in a while... Let's see how that goes!**

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 _"Let's blow this popsicle stand"_

That's what she had said. But she was currently packing up her stuff, along with Evie as they ran through their plan one more time. Carlos and Evie were to steal the limo. Jay was to load it with their stuff and she had to cast a spell on them so no one could find them.

She couldn't destroy Auradon, even thought she wanted Chad, Audrey and their minions to pay for humiliating them. She had loved almost every second she spent there, and so did her friends. They would not go thru with Maleficent's plan, but they wouldn't stay. They were moving to Maldonia, a kingdom completely independent, and far away, from Auradon. No one would know them there; they wouldn't be the villain kids, just transfer students from an unknown location.

She sat down with her mother's spell book in hand, muttering the words of a spell softly as Evie walked behind her.

"You want to undo Ben's love spell?" the blue-haired girl asked, shocked.

"Evie, we are leaving tonight. And we are not coming back. It's for the best. Ben being in love with me forever seems a little too cruel" She glanced at Evie who was looking at her with what could only be described as pity. _I can't stay here_. She thought as she grabbed the spell book and fled to the kitchen.

Mal had done plenty of things in the past, most of them evil, but this by far was the worst.

 _A million thoughts in my head, should I let my heart keep listening?_

 _I know it's time to say goodbye, it's so hard to let go._

She finished the cupcake with the anti-love potion and made her way towards Ben's dorm room. She quietly unlocked the door and walked inside, smiling softly as Ben growled in his sleep. _How beastly_. She placed the cupcake on his nightstand along with a note.

"Mal…" he growled in his sleep and Mal glanced at him. He had switched in the bed and had a faint smile on his lips, but was still asleep. She left his room, relocking the door before sprinting towards hers and Evie's dorm; it killed her knowing that smile wouldn't be there when he woke up the next day.

"Where have you been? Jay already took our things out" Evie asked as she wrote something on a piece of paper, when she felt Mal's eyes on her she explained "It's for Doug. It's stupid but I wanted to say goodbye" Evie smiled sadly as she placed the note on her bed "I'm done, let's go. I'll go get the car with Carlos, go find Jay"

Evie would deny it, but Mal saw her wipe some tears as she left the room. And she would deny it, but she cried as she made her way towards the entrance of Auradon prep, holding in her sobs as she muttered the spells that would prevent Fairy Godmother from finding them. "It's for the best" she whispered as she wiped her tears and joined Jay.

"Is this the right thing to do?" He asked her, wrapping an arm around her.

"I hope so" she sighed, eyeing the shiny black limo approaching them "Let's go"

Mal jumped in front of the limo next to Evie, who was driving while Carlos and Jay loaded their bags.

"At least something we learned here will come in handy" Evie whispered, and edge to her voice, and Mal remembered that it had been Doug the one that taught her how to drive. She had nearly wrecked his car, so Mal hoped they could make it out of Auradon just fine.

"Carlos, where are we supposed to catch the flying thing to Maldonia?"

"It's called an airplane, Mal. As soon as we get to Charmington, we must change our appearance and you have to charm our passports to match. We can go then. It's a 6 hours flight from Charmington to Maldonia" he explained as he sat behind the partition "We can't cross the Auradon boarder with the limo. I'll tell you guys where to stop"

An hour later they were parking the limo off the road and running towards the airport. Jay was carrying the heavier bags while Carlos and Evie discussed documents.

"STOP!" Mal shouted as they walked in front of a store that had a mirror-like window tinting.

"Mal? What are you doing?" Jay asked as she made them stand beside each other in front of a mirror-like window "This is Evie's thing"

"Shut up" she glared, before joining them.

She quickly muttered a spell, closing her eyes as she felt the magic surround them.

Evie, Jay and Carlos stared in awe as their appearance changed right before their eyes.

Evie's hair had gone from blue to dark brown, and her clothes changed from her blue jacket and black skirt to a black leather jacket, blue shirt and jeans. Only her shoes were the same.

Carlos hair had gone completely black, and his clothes changed to a grey sweatshirt and a pair of jeans along with a pair of grey sneakers.

Jay's hair was short now, and he wore a muscle white shirt, dark jeans and leather boots.

Mal's new appearance was even more drastic. Her shoulder-length purple hair was now a long and wavy blonde. Her dark clothes were replaced by a denim shirt on top of a white tank top, dark jeans and a pair of sneakers.

She grabbed the passports Carlos got for them and did the same, the pictures matching their new appearance.

"Okay, we must go now. Hurry c'mon" Carlos whispered as he checked his watch, he saw the lights of the airport and directed them there "We will lose the flight if we don't hurry"

The group ran to the airport, stopping long enough to look less sweaty and compose themselves before going in.

"What the hell is a check in?" Mal asked Carlos as he led them among the thousands of people walking around the airport.

"It's where we get our tickets to get on the plane. Evie let's go" he stated, walking head with the brunette as Mal and Jay trailed behind. They stood near the duo as they spoke to a woman behind a counter before returning with their tickets.

"Here. Don't lose them. Boarding will begin any moment now, pay attention and… stay together" Evie stated, giving Jay a pointed look as she said the last part.

Evelyn Griffin, Charles Duvall, Jason Thiefson and Mallory Fairland. Those where their new names. At least Evie had managed to keep them close to their real names.

"Mallory? Really?"

"It was that or Bertha. So…" Evie grinned as she hugged Mal.

 _Passengers to Flight 1989 to Maldonia boarding is on Gate 13._

"That's our call. Let's do this" Carlos stated, glancing at his friends "We will be okay, right?"

Mal smiled sadly at him, before pushing Evie off of her and grabbing her bags.

"Let's do it."

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 **Next chapter is Coronation day... and Ben finds out Mal and the others have escaped. Please R &R, let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

BEN/AURADON

Ben woke up feeling something wasn't right. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but it wasn't good. He got out of bed and noticed a cupcake and a note next to it. He saw Mal's handwriting in it so immediately popped the cupcake in his mouth as he read the note.

" _Ben I'm so sorry. But we couldn't stay here anymore. I'll be as honest with you as I can. My mother wanted me to steal Fairy Godmother's wand to release her and the other villains from the Isle, she wanted to take over the world. But I couldn't do that to Auradon. I couldn't do that to you. I gave you a cookie laced with a love spell to become your girlfriend and be closer to it, and hopefully you just ate the anti-love potion now. I'm so sorry. But us leaving is for the best. We won't cause any problem don't worry. Thank you for teaching me what love felt like, even if your love for me wasn't real. Just know that I love you Ben, and again, I'm so sorry. –Mal"_

He threw the note on his bed and immediately ran towards Mal and Evie's dorm room, ignoring Lumiere's complaints about his clothes. He opened the door and immediately froze. _No_. She couldn't be gone. He checked her closet and found it empty. Everything was empty. He could feel a lump in his throat as the room started to spin "What did you do Mal…"

"Ben, honey let's go to your room" Queen Belle spoke softly, placing a hand on her son's shoulder, feeling bad for him. She could see the heartbreak and desperation on his face.

"She's gone mom. Mal is gone and it's my fault" he whispered as he let his mother drag him out of the room "We have to do something. We need to find them. I need to find her"

"We will, don't worry" She had found out about their departure from Doug, who had gone to her and Fairy Godmother after he went to apologize to Evie, only to find an empty room and a note on her bed. She had assumed Mal would do the same for Ben so she waited by the girl's former room for his impending arrival.

Belle sent a gentle smile at Lumiere, who immediately understood the future King needed some space.

"I assume Mal left you a note?" he nodded, handing his mother the note Mal had left him. He heard her gasp. "It does explain the sudden girlfriend change"

"Before you say anything to dad, I am in love with Mal. Her spell washed away when I took a swim on the Enchanted Lake during our first date, but I never came around to tell her." He explained softly.

"Honey, I'm so sorry" Belle knew her son probably felt devastated, which was one of the reasons she and the Fairy Godmother had chosen to leave King Beast out of the problem.

"I dreamt of her" Ben whispered softly, causing Belle to look at him curiously "Before they arrived. I dreamed I was on the Isle… and there was this purple haired, green eyed girl that just… I couldn't get her out of my mind" he stood up from his bed, walking towards his window, which overlooked the Isle. "That's why I made the proclamation. I needed to find her. I never thought she was real, until Mal got off the limo. That's when I knew I had found the girl of my dreams"

Belle stared at her son, shocked. She remembered reading in a book that sometimes, destiny decided to help along those meant to be together, one of those little helps were dreams, where the chosen couple would dream and see the face of their true love, even before meeting. With Ben's confession, she could only assume Mal had a dream similar to his. She didn't know what to say.

"Fairy Godmother has her best assistants looking for them. They couldn't have gone very far"

"You don't know how crafty Carlos can be, mom. If you combine that with Evie's brain and Mal's magical gift, they could be anywhere right now" he growled frustrated "This is my fault"

"It's not. And I'm sorry I didn't defend you in front of your dad yesterday. Some heroines do know how to hold a grudge, and I'm sorry Mal and her friends were exposed to it" she stated, hugging her son "Ben, you need to get ready for the coronation. I know it's the last thing you want to do right now, but you have to"

"How can I be King when I couldn't even protect the girl I love, mom? I couldn't protect her or her friends from…"

"Ben, honey stop. We will find them. They will comeback. But please get ready"

He did as his mother asked him. He got ready and followed thru with his coronation. But sadly the one question everyone kept making was the one he didn't have an answer for. _Where is your girlfriend this evening? Did you break up? Was she sent back to Isle with her friends?_

He excused himself from his party as he walked back to Mal and Evie's room. He wanted to ship Chad and Audrey to the Isle, to make them suffer for the mess they created. But he knew it would do no good. It would not get his girlfriend back.

"I don't want new students in this dorm room" He stated as he felt the Fairy Godmother stand behind him "Not this room. And neither the boy's room. They are off limit now"

"We found the limo they took abandoned near the enchanted lake" she said and Ben turned around, his heart sinking even more. "There was no sign of them, and not even Dude was able to follow Carlos's scent".

"You are the Fairy Godmother! Use your magic and find them!" he growled as Queen Belle and Doug entered the room, his friend looking as devastated as he was.

"I'm afraid we underestimated Mal's magical abilities. It seems she put some sort of shield on her and her friends that's preventing me from finding them. But we'll keep on trying Ben, don't worry"

He had to find her, and he would. No matter how long it took.

"I'm the King now, right?" he stated looking at her "Whatever you need to find them you just ask and it's done. Do whatever it takes, but please find them" Ben stated, and Fairy Godmother left the room, knowing he needed some time alone.

He turned towards a window, the one closer to Mal's bed, which overlooked Auradon, sighing defeated.

"Where are you Mal…"

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 **AN:** Thank you guys _so much_ for the response! Hopefully you liked this chapter too. Up next we'll see Doug and his reaction to Evie's depature... Jane and Carlos... we'll get there, eventually. On the movie they get together at the party but since he ran away; that did not happen. Also, i think i will update weekly, probably on Wednesdays, tho there could be exceptions, like today... Please R/R and let me know what you think! Feel free to PM me ideas too! xoxo


	3. Chapter 3

DOUG/AURADON

 _-Flashback-_

" _I can't believe I got another A+!" Evie exclaimed as she sat next to him at lunch, smiling._

" _Why are you so shocked? You are a brilliant girl" he smiled at her, holding her hand and frowning when her smile fell._

" _On the Isle… we weren't encouraged to be smart. Just evil. Every kid in Dragon Hall aims for scoring an F on every subject." She explained, stealing Doug's apple from his tray "The meaner the better. I think the only reason I'm good at chemistry is because I read all of my mother's potion books while I was castle-schooled"_

" _You are better than Mal on that" he smiled._

" _Don't tell her. Although, her spells and potions do work better because she has magic and…"_

" _Don't do that" he stopped her "Don't put yourself down. Evie, you are beautiful, and your mother got that right. But you are also smart, and witty and creative. You don't have to compare yourself to Mal or any other girl in the world. You are unique"_

" _I did come to accept I'm not the fairest of them all" she smiled at him and he chuckled._

" _You are to me" he whispered, closing the distance between them and kissing her._

He was an idiot. He was truly and idiot and he knew it. He couldn't believe everything that went wrong at Family Day. And he definitely hated that fact that he had allowed Chad to bully him into silence. He should've stood up for Evie, but he had failed her.

That's why he had gotten up early, dressed in his favorite clothes and picked up a bouquet of blue roses for Evie and a box of fresh strawberries for Mal, because Ben told him she loved them and he needed a peace offering since he knew she would not be pleased to have been woken up.

But everything was quiet. He checked his watch, 7:45am. Evie should be up already, and Mal should be grumbling about it being too early to start getting dolled up. It was odd. He knocked on their door, but no answer came. He tried again, this time calling her name, but again, he was met with silence.

Taking a chance, he tried to open the door, was surprised when it opened with no hassle. But once he stepped inside, he realized something was incredibly wrong. The room was empty. And there was no sign of either Evie or Mal, he walked closer, noticing the note perched on Evie's bed and he immediately knew something had gone wrong.

Taking the note, he sat down on her bed, the flowers and strawberries lying forgotten on her night table, and read it.

" _Doug, if you are reading this, you've probably noticed we are gone. I'm so sorry for what happened yesterday. And I'm so sorry I couldn't do this in person. Living under your parents shadow is hard, but it's even worse if your parent happens to be a villain. We don't want that. We don't deserve it. Thank you for always believing in me, for seeing the real me. But we had to leave; we deserve a change to live, to have our happy ever after. And it won't happen here. And I don't blame you, for listening to Chad. I will always stand by my friends and you did the same. I'll miss you Doug, and I'll never forget you. Love, Evie"_

He doesn't know how long he sat there staring at the note, but eventually his brain functioned and his leg started moving him towards Ben's room, accidentally crashing into Fairy Godmother.

"I-I'm so sorry. I need to find Ben. They are gone. Evie's gone and I need to find her" he said everything in one breath, trying to move past Fairy Godmother but a hand stopped him.

"Doug sweetheart, who's gone?" It was Queen Belle and he didn't know if he should bow or scream out in frustration. Ben had to help him find Evie. Now. However, he knew the two women would not let him go unless he started talking, and it couldn't be any worse that it was.

"Evie, Mal… and I'll assume Jay and Carlos too. I went to look for Evie and apologize for everything that happened yesterday but she wasn't there. No trace of her, or Mal, nothing" he sighed, and he could feel the tears coming to his eyes. He was an idiot, and he just lost the only girl that ever cared for him. The only girl he has ever loved.

"Doug, go to your dorm. Take a shower and get ready for the coronation. Fairy Godmother and I will take care of this" Queen Belle smiled sadly at him as he slumped against a wall.

"Doug, I will do anything I can to find them, please do go now. I want you in a proper suit, I'll have someone lead the band today" The Fairy Godmother ordered and this time he got off the wall, bowing to the Queen and turning around to head to his room. He stopped by the girls room again, retrieving the flowers and strawberries he left behind, but something caught his attention. Inside Evie's nightstand was her old chemistry test. She had been so happy, and she had gone to him to celebrate. Not Mal. Not Carlos. Him.

Oh he messed up, bad. And if he never found Evie he was going to regret it the rest of his life.

"I need to find her…"

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 **AN:** There you go! Again thank you guys so much for the support. This one was a little bit shorter(i think?) but i'll make it up to you. Up next, Mal and the gang try to find out how to fit into their new lives. Looks like plenty of you want Ben to go Beasty on Audrey and Chad's behinds... we'll see haha. And i have a surprise coming... you just wait and see. Please R/R and again feel free to PM ideas, i love to read what you guys think! xoxo


	4. Chapter 4

MAL/MALDONIA

Mal was tired. Actually tired didn't even covey how she felt. They had boarded the plane to Maldonia and she had decided that flying was not her thing.

" _Aren't you supposed to be a dragon? C'mon Mal!" Jay had mocked her after the third time she had gone to the bathroom to throw up._

" _She's also human. Let it go Jay. Please" Evie glared at him, wrapping a comforting arm around her._

Carlos and Evie had somehow gotten them enrolled into the local high school, and she was currently looking for jobs along with Jay as the other two finished up the "transcripts".

It was unnerving how many stares she was getting from the boys in Maldonia, that not even Jay's glare could deter.

"I think I hate the blonde" she groaned, wrapping her jacket a bit tighter around herself "Guys used to ignore me" _except for Ben_ , she thought.

"Get used to it, blondie" Jay mocked, pulling her arm lightly "Hey, look over there. That restaurant is looking for staff. Maybe we should check it out" Jay pointed to a very busy place that was basically in the middle of the town.

"Let's get this over with. If they say no, Evie and Carlos better find us jobs tomorrow" she grumbled as they walked inside the fancy place.

"Hi! Welcome to Tiana's Palace! What can I get you?" a blonde guy with green eyes jumped in front of them, causing Jay to grab his neck.

"Let him go Jay, now!" Mal screeched as the blonde guy gasped for air "I'm sorry" Jay apologized, letting go of him.

"Yeah I'm sorry too, you just startled us. I'm Mallory, this is Jason. We saw you guys are hiring and we wondered if the job is still available." Mal did her best to send the guy a charming smile, but it came more as a grimace _I should have taken Evie's advices more seriously._

"Yes, we are. Let me call my boss… sort of. TIARA! THESE KIDS ARE LOOKING FOR A JOB" he screeched, walking away towards what she assumed was the kitchen.

"Sorry if Aragon scared you. He gets overly excited sometimes. What can I do for you?" Mal was pretty sure Jay was sporting the same confused look as she did, because there was no way this girl owns the restaurant. She didn't even look older than them.

"The name… is Jay-Jason" Jay groaned as Mal elbowed his ribs, managing to send a charming smiled towards the girl.

"Right" The girl rolled her eyes at Jay "And you are?" she said, turning to Mal.

"I'm Mallory. We just moved here and we were looking for jobs. Excuse Jason, he has no manners" Mal glared at Jay, but he seemed to be pretty busy staring at the beautiful girl. "You own this?"

"Oh no. It's my mom's restaurant. But I have to overlook it when she goes touring with dad. Anyways, what can you do?" she smiled at Mal and she could've sworn she'd seen that smile before, but she couldn't pinpoint where.

"We'll take anything but cooking, really. We have two other friends, Evelyn and Charles; they are also looking for a job"

"Okay then, I'll give you guys a trial week waitressing. I assume you'll go to Maldonia High, seeing as is the only school here… I'll give you schedules at school. Deal?" she extended her hand at Mal and she shook it, laughing when she turned around completely ignoring Jay.

"Talk about a bruised ego…"

"Shut it, Mal"

The duo made its way back to their new dorms. Mal found Evie in their room, all of their clothes sprawled on the floor "What is going on, E?" she frowned, barely dodging a jacket Evie had thrown across the room. "Try not to kill me, would you?"

"You need to change all of this with magic. We don't have money to buy new clothes or get materials to make them. Besides, the school year already started and…"

Mal shut down what Evie was saying, opting for researching her spell book instead. She knew Evie. And the only reason she was doing this was to stop thinking about Doug. She found a spell and started replacing their clothes, freezing when she grabbed Ben's letterman. She tried to stop herself, but her mind went back to the day he gave it to her.

" _I believe this is yours" Mal approached Ben, his letterman jacket on her hands, as he walked outside the boys locker room. He had given her the jacket after the lake incident, and told her to keep it even after she put on her own._

" _It's yours now. I want you to have it" he smiled at her and he stepped closer to her, grabbing the jacket from her hands and placing it around her shoulders just like he did on the lake "You are my girlfriend, it's what we do"_

" _Audrey didn't have one" she retorted, trying, and failing, to avoid looking into his eyes._

" _That's because I never loved her" he grinned, leaning down and pressing his lips to hers. She didn't know what to do, she had never kissed anyone before, so she closed her eyes and simply followed his lead, wrapping her hands around his neck. He broke the kiss._

" _I have to go, royal dinner. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you" he smiled, pecking her lips as she stood frozen in place._

"You are thinking about Ben" Evie stated, giving her friend a sad smiled as she sat next to her on her bed.

"And you were thinking about Doug, otherwise our room wouldn't look like this" she pointed around "I do like Maldonian color scheme better tho" she joked, running her hand through her green comforter. Evie laughed despite herself, grabbing Mal's hand.

"I miss him, Mal. We've been here less than 24hrs and I already miss Doug. And Carlos kept calling for Dude and his face every single time he realized it wasn't here broke my heart. You miss Ben, and Jay is back to being a jerk… Mal can we pull this off?"

Mal knew exactly how Evie felt. She felt that way too. She missed Ben terribly and it scared her how dependant of him she became in the few weeks they were together, but she knew she'd have to be strong. If she crumbled, everyone would go down with her.

"Yes we can. We survived 16 years with our parents in that awful island. We can pull this off. As long as we stick together, we will" she hugged Evie, and stood up.

"We got jobs by the way. Waitressing. Don't even start complaining about your nails I beg you. I had to hear Jay whining all the way back because the owner's daughter rejected him. It was not pretty"

"Jay and a bruised ego… I pity you… And while you guys were at it, Carlos and I got our transcripts to the school. We are all on the same classes, except for the fact that he signed us on different extra activities"

"I'm pretty sure I don't care as long as I don't have to sew anything" Mal laughed, walking into their bathroom.

"Good, I'm sure you'll do just fine in pottery" Evie had to keep herself from falling off the bed as Mal screeched and walked out of their room, gleaming green eyes shining brightly as she stalked towards the boys dorm.

"CARLOS!"

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 **AN** : SURPRISE! New chapter and it's Friday! WooHoo!... But, obviously there's a catch. I'm going on a week vacation and while i think there will be WiFi, my fanfic laptop wont make the trip and there wont be an update next Wednesday. So, as a peace offering, here's the new chapter! Saw the reference to LaM? LOL... BTW, Mal is _NOT_ pregnant. She just doesnt like flying. Like me on Monday probably. I got a review that asked about the gang meeting Naveen and Tiana, although neither Mal nor Jay put it together, Tiara is obviously their daughter and she will play a HUGE part on reuniting the gang with their Auradon counterparts... eventually. R/R and let me know what you think and feel superfree to PM me! ... PD: Check out The Girl and the Dreamcatcher's(aka Dove and Ryan's new band) video right now on YT! They are amazing! -xoxo


	5. Chapter 5

I DO NOT OWN DESCENDANTS... Copyright goes to Disney.

Also, there's a somewhat significant time jump up next.

Warning: There's some underage drinking in this chapter. So beware...

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MAL/MALDONIA(6 months later)

She hated parties with a burning passion. Maybe the reason she was so mad at Evie when they were six was because she hated the party more than not being invited to it. But right now as she sat on her table drinking a fruit punch she was sure Jay had somehow spiked, she was convinced she hated them.

It's not like she had a choice, really. Tiara and Evie had teamed up against her and basically dragged her to the party. It was some sort of masquerade, and it was being held at Tiara's family palace.

It had taken about two weeks for her to find out she was actually Princess Tiara of Maldonia, and it took a whole month for her to realize why Tiara's smile had been so familiar when they first met. She had seen her before, at Ben's castle. He was telling her stories from his childhood and she had seen a photo of them when they were around 8.

" _Who is this?" she had asked Ben, laughing as she stared at the picture. Ben had obviously fallen off the bike next to him and the little girl was laughing, holding onto her stomach._

" _That'd be Tiara. My best friend since… well, birth. Always found a way to make fun of me"_

" _How come we've never seen her?"_

" _Her family has a kingdom. And it's outside Auradon. We went to school together but she moved away when we were ten. Something bad happened, and her family decided to go back to their palace"_

She had been curious about what had happened, and the more time she spent at the Palace, the more she assumed it had something to do with a girl she had seen with Tiara as a child in pictures, but somehow disappeared from the more recent ones.

"Are you gonna mop all night long?" Evie asked her as she sat next to her, sipping from the cup Mal had just placed on the table "Ugh, Jay spiked this thing" she cringed, downing the drink anyways.

"Yes he did, and yes I will. I didn't want to come in the first place" she whined.

"It's a Halloween party, Mal. You are supposed to like it!"

"Halloween is supposed to be scary, Evie! Not some sort of fancy party where you can only hide your face with some stupid lace mask!" she hissed, rolling her eyes when Evie simply spun around and went off to dance.

Over the few months they had been at Maldonia, both Mal and Evie had become friends with Tiara, which surprised them, considering their dislike of Princesses. But, they had soon learned that the girl had an aversion to all things royal, which reminded Mal of Ben and made her realize why they were so close.

Of course, she was in the dark about their true identities, but for some reason had taken into calling them M and E, much to their dismay. At least they convinced her to do so just when they were alone.

"Don't feel like dancing, uh?" Mal froze. Because there was no way Ben was standing right next to her. She saw the guest list along with Evie and they made sure neither him nor Doug were in it.

She could feel her heart racing as she took a glance at the young man next to her. It was definitely Ben. _Breathe in, breathe out. Slowly_. She was about to have a panic attack when she remembered the party was a masquerade. And she was, _thankfully_ , still wearing her mask. Besides, there was no way he would recognize her with her new look. _It is a good thing Evie left_ , she thought.

"Not really. I was just leaving" she replied in a deeper voice and got up to walk away, only to crash right into his chest. "I'm sorry" she mumbled, trying to get past him while avoiding eye contact.

"It's okay. No one wants to be around me these days" Ben somewhat slurred and Mal realized that he had drank far too many cups of the spiked punch. She was actually thankful of Jay's mischievous ways for once.

"Why's that?" she found herself asking, curious. She knew Auradon had been looking for them. It had been all over the news, but it seemed that Maldonians were not too interested in the young King's love life. Or Auradon, in general. But still, she read that Ben had launched a search party to try and find them, but it had been fruitless. _Until now_.

"My girlfriend left me" he sighed "And I guess I've become too much of a jerk ever since. Even Tee says it, and she calls it like she sees it" he paused. "I miss her so much. I love her and I know she's the one for me, but I can't find her and I'm starting to think I never will" his shoulder slumped and he closed his eyes, allowing her to take a glimpse at his face.

It was hard to believe the young man in front of her was sixteen. His hair was longer than six months ago, and it seemed as if he wasn't even bothered to comb it properly. He was skinner, as his tailored suit didn't fit him right, and the bags under his eyes told her he had not sleep in heaven knew how long. He seemed older and tired, and it killed her inside to know she was in part to blame.

She was trying really hard to stop herself from ripping off her mask and kissing him. Telling him how sorry she was and that she would go back to Auradon, to him. But she couldn't. He should have move on. His spell should be gone. But there he was, professing his love for her, even drunk.

"Ben! There you are!" Tiara yelled over the music, and Mal turned away from Ben just in time as he opened his eyes "You are drunk, c'mon sleep it off before you turn up in your hotel dancing in your underwear" Tiara stated, walking to them, and pulling at one of Ben's arms, wrapping it around her shoulder "I'm sorry M, he's heartbroken and stressed, so he gets sappy. He's a fairytale King after all. You can go home. I know you hate it here and E is basically polishing the floors with her heels. I'll see you tomorrow."

She had never been so relieved to see Tiara in her life. Not trusting her voice she nodded quickly before running out of the ballroom and towards the entrance, where she ran straight into Aragon.

"Woah blondie, what's the hurry" he questioned, frowning when he saw the distress in her face "Are you okay?"

"Did you drink from the punch?" she asked, avoiding his question, and he shook his head no. "Would you mind driving me back to the dorms?"

"Sure… My car is over there" she followed him to blue car that was parked near the front and sat in it, waiting for him.

"Isn't Evelyn coming with us?" He asked as he buckled his seatbelt, starting the car.

"You can go in and try to get her off the dance floor if you want" she smiled softly and he chuckled, knowing it would not happen.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I didn't want to come in the first place, Tee and E kinda teamed up against me. I had no way out" she replied, trying to relax as he drove them out of the palace.

"Are you sure it has nothing to do with that King friend of Tiara?" he asked and for the second time in the night, Mal froze. Because there was no way Aragon knew who she was.

"She has many King friends" she pointed out "and no, Jay spiked the punch, I don't feel good, that's all"

He didn't say anything else during the drive, but Mal had a nagging feeling he knew more than he let people think. He was a sweet guy, and overly happy when it came to work and customers, but otherwise, Aragon was a very quiet, observing guy.

"I know who you are" He stated, looking at her pointedly as they parked in front of the dorms "You four turn up here right after Ben's girl and her friends run away from Auradon?"

"I don't know what you are talking about" she tried to play it cool, but too many things were happening tonight and she suddenly felt suffocated in the car.

"Well, I do. Technology is an amazing thing" he pulled his phone out and opened a picture of the entire group hanging at the restaurant "I bet that if I make your hair purple, you will look just like his missing girlfriend" he pointed at Evie "Her change isn't as drastic as yours, but if King Ben saw Evelyn without her mask, he would know who she is"

She had no way out of this, not without using magic anyways. So she decided to play along and see where he was trying to get.

"Okay, fine. Yes, I'm Mal. We are the missing villains from Auradon. But you have to promise me you won't say anything, especially to Tiara. What we did was for the best. Aragon please…" begging was not something Mal was particularly fond of doing, but she was even willing to do so just to make sure Aragon stayed quiet.

"Hey, you've got your reasons and those are for you and your friends to know. But whatever it was that happened back there, it will eventually come back to haunt you. Auradon look like a happy place, but when bad things happen, it's not nice…" he explained, smiling sadly at her, "And don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I'll let you in on a secret of mine only Tee knows about… I used to live in Auradon too" he winked, stuffing his phone in his jacket and unlocking the doors so she could get out.

She was trying to decipher if he was being honest but she would have to deal with that later. She jumped out of the car and waved at Aragon as he drove off, muttering a quick spell to prevent him from revealing their true identities, just in case.

As she walked back to her room, everything sunk it at full force. _She had seen Ben_. Or at least, a hollow shell of Ben. She was the reason he looked so miserable and it killed her, but she couldn't just turn up in Auradon, flanked by her friends and act like nothing ever happened.

She jumped on her bed, face down on her pillow as sobs wrecked through her body. If she could go back in time to Family Day and revert their decision of leaving, she would. He loved her and… _wait_ … he _loved_ her?

That should not happen. He should not be spelled any more. Her mother's spell book said the spell would break on its own if the involved ones didn't interact in a long time, and knowing Ben, he probably ate the cupcake before even thinking of reading her note. He shouldn't be spelled. And he wasn't. And if there was something she had learned at a young age at the Isle was that drunk people didn't lie.

He _loved_ her.

* * *

 **AN:** I dont know how many times i changed the ending of this chapter yet nothing worked, so i went with the original idea. So Mal and Ben saw eachother(kind of?) and she knows Ben really did love her(How stubborn can she be?!) and Aragon knows who she really is. Don't worry, he's not a bad guy, and he wont come in between Bal. I picture Aragon as Adam Hicks so look him up to get an idea. Do you guys think Tiara doesnt know who they are? what do you say? Anyways, up next we'll see what has happened in Auradon in the past six months... Don't forget to R/R and PM me your ideas! Thank you soo much for the support!

PD: I did NOT like flying, just like Mal lol. More especifically: Landing! lol -xoxo


	6. Chapter 6

BEN/MALDONIA

 _He was never drinking again_. That was the first thing that came to his mind as soon as he woke up, feeling everything he ate the night before come right back up. He barely made it to the toilet before dumping everything in the bowl. After he made sure he was done he got up and took a glance at himself in the mirror, wincing. He looked as bad as he felt, and for once he understood why Tiara had been so concerned when she picked him up at the airport.

It had been six months since Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos disappeared from Auradon leaving no trace. He had the best of the best in Auradon Security Services looking for them, along with Fairy Godmother, but it was as if they had simply vanished. He had even sent people to the Isle, but there was no trace of them there, not that they would be welcomed anyways.

He had come to the party because his mother thought it would be a good idea to get away from Auradon for a while. He couldn't focus on anything asides the missing foursome and it showed in some very erratic decisions that he had made. It got to the point where King Beast was not-so-secretly reigning back in Auradon.

But quite honestly, he wasn't upset over that. He felt sick and tired and the only thing he wanted to do was to sleep away until they were found. Oh, how he wishes he could have foreseen what Queen Leah's outburst was about to bring.

Of course, some Auradonians were happy that the Isle kids were missing, but that didn't stop Ben from showing how important they were. He blamed Chad and Audrey, especially Chad, over their departure and he made it known when he had them both removed from Auradon Prep, not before he beat up Chad to a pulp and had Audrey's gold digging ways published in a gossip website. And of course, he had sent them to the Isle for two weeks under the supervision of Doug, who wanted to go and see for himself how his girlfriend lived, but was ultimately horrified to see the how everyone lived there. It was no wonder that they were so tough looking.

The Charmings and the Royales had not been happy and boycotted his decision, but they were disregarded by the council, that lead by Grumpy again, sided with him. Although he had the feeling it had far more to do with Doug and how deeply in love he had fallen for Evie in such a short time than anything else. But he was not about to complain.

Sadly a couple of meetings after that one had gone wrong, which eventually caused Beast to take over, leaving Ben in his current state. He realized that he needed a haircut, as his golden hair was well past his ears and the last time he remembers having it this long was when he was ten and his mother had gone to Maldonia for six months. Beast being Beast, had not really minded his son's hair getting out of control. And his suits didn't fit him, which made him realized he was not eating properly. Mal would kill him if she saw him like that.

He suddenly remembered what he had done before passing out last night and groaned. He had basically dumped his entire life on that poor guest and he needed to apologize. He took his shower and attempted to comb his hair, dressing up in a new suit before joining Aragon and Tiara in the kitchen.

"Don't you have a place to stay?" he asked the blonde guy who simply shrugged, passing a plate full of pancakes to him.

"Look at you! Hair combed and clean suit? Who are you?" Tiara joked, sipping on her coffee as she checked her phone. "Uncle B isn't happy about last night. Word got out that you got drunk. The Auradon press is having a field day" she gave him a pointed look and he groaned. He had to right things up, but first he needed to apologize.

"Hey, who was your friend? From last night" he asked, trying to sound casual.

"It was Mallory. We go to school together and she works at the restaurant too. What about her?"

"I was wondering if I could meet up with her. I want to apologize for basically spilling all my problems on her" he said, sincerely. The more he remembered about the girl, the more curious he was to meet her. He had felt a pull to her, like she was calling him, and the only person he had felt that pull with had been Mal. But it wasn't her, her long, almost white hair told him so.

"She's fine" Aragon answered, slightly jumpy, which snapped Ben back to reality "I mean, she called me this morning, she said no problem. Also, she's visiting some relatives but said she would be back tomorrow"

"But she has no relatives. She told me so" Tiara answered, confused.

"Don't ask me I'm just telling you what she said to me. Talk to her tomorrow"

"She goes to school with you but has no relatives? It almost sounds like Mal, her only family were Evie, Jay and Carlos" Ben sighed, missing how Tiara's expression went from confusion to surprise in a second, before glaring at Aragon.

"Snap out of it, Ben. I have to go, but Aragon will drive you to the airport. I'll see you next week for the new proclamation. Bye Ben" she said quickly before disappearing, leaving the two young men alone in the kitchen.

"What is she talking about?" Aragon asked, sitting next to Ben on the counter.

"We have to be married by our eighteen birthdays. And we promised we would marry each other if none of us found true love by them. I found it, but she left, so…" he said nonchalantly, missing Aragon going completely pale.

"Marry her? You can't marry her. Her parents hate Auradon. I hate Auradon"

"I know you, but it's something we said we would do before Tallulah's disappearance, and we will go through with it if I can't find Mal before my eighteen birthday. Maybe if we go through with it, Naveen and Tiana and our people can see differently about what happened that day"

Ben saw Aragon's shoulders slump when he mentioned what had happened six years ago. Tallulah, Tiara's elder sister and rightful heir to the Maldonian throne, had supposedly drowned after she had gone for a swim on a beach facing the Isle of the Lost. She had been twelve and had sneaked away with Aragon, Eric and Ariel's middle child. Auradon had turned against him, saying he had purposely drowned the girl, while he swore that the storm had appeared out of nowhere, and that he had tried to get the girl out of the water, not being able to. Ironically, Naveen and Tiana had believed him, and after some talks with Eric and Ariel, the boy had moved to Maldonia with them.

Tallulah's body was never found, which made everything even more strange. He had wanted to talk to Mal, to see if she saw or heard of a girl suddenly appearing on the Isle, but he never had the chance.

"They are the reason I can't live with my parents or siblings, Ben. It's like… I'll try to gather up some friends to help you find your girlfriend. Now, let's drop you off at the airport. I need to find Tiara before her parents arrive" the blonde guy stood up suddenly, wiping his hands while Ben sat confused at his sudden outburst. It wasn't the first time they spoke about that day, but it was the first time Aragon reacted like that. Shaking his head and making a mental note to send Mallory some flowers through Tee, he got ready to leave.

"Time to right some wrongs"

* * *

 **AN:** I AM SO SO SO SORRY! I know I promised to update every Wednesday but I had a huge writers block and it was combined with a couple of awful weeks full of assignments from College which meant I just didn't have time to sit down and work through it. Good news is; I have a draft of the next chapter already in the works. I am not fully happy with this chapter, but I will not fight the muse that it's somewhat returning. Ben apparently got some groove back, all because of Mal's(unknown) presence. Annnnd… Tiara put the pieces together AND now we know what happened to the girl Mal had seen in the pictures… What do you think she will do? And where's is Tallulah?

To the guest that wants Mal to be pregnant: If she were, it wouldn't be Ben's since she has been in Maldonia for 6 months. I do love me some Bal and Devie baby madness, but in this story, for the moment, it won't happen. Maybe I'll do family one-shots who know.

Sorry for the super long AN. Don't forget to R/R and send me PMs with suggestions. Thank you guys! Also…. DESCENDANTS 2 IS HAPPENING! Yes!


	7. Chapter 7

MALDONIA

"YOU!" Tiara shouted as she walked into Mal and Evie's dorm, fuming "You lied to me!" Evie sat up suddenly and fell off her bed, grabbing onto her head as it pounded.

"What's going on? And why are you yelling at us?" the brunette girl huffed, sitting back on her bed as she turned to Mal, realizing the girl had red puffy eyes that meant she had been crying, which was odd because Mal never cried.

"You are Evie Grimhilde! And you… Maleficent Moors! You lied to me. To the entire Maldonian kingdom! Give me a reason why I shouldn't call King Ben right now and have you shipped back to the stupid Auradon?" Tiara walked towards Mal, her rage dissipating when she saw her friend's puffy eyes.

"We left because we had to, Tee. Believe me, it's been hard to be here and know how close you are to Ben. Living this in the lie… I hate it. We hate it. But we had to leave Auradon and you can't send us back I'm begging you, don't do it" Mal sobbed, which broke Tiara's heart.

"M… I- what's going on?" Evie wondered, a hand placed firmly against her temple. Tiara was confused by Mal's current state, but decided to take some pity of Evie and her obvious hangover "E, there should be some Advil in the bathroom cabinet, take two, drink some water and sleep it off" then she turned to Mal "You and I are going for a drive. And we will talk, because things will get even more messy in a few weeks"

Tiara knew being cruel would not get her anywhere with Mal, she remembers everything Ben told her about her and knew pushing her would lead to her walls going up. So she opted for driving to the restaurant and bringing out some baking supplies. If there was something Mal was good at, it was baking.

"Would you rather talk or do you want me to make the questions?" she said, watching as Mal carefully measured the ingredients to make a batter.

"I never thought I had a way out of the Isle. We were born there and raised to be evil. It's what everyone expects from you there" Mal took a breath before continuing "So of course, when we were invited to Auradon, my mother just had to take the opportunity to make a plot. She had been looking for a way out since she was sent there and I was the ticket, the game changer for her to do it" Mal's eyes flashed green and for a moment Tiara was frightened, but this was M, her friend. She would not hurt her.

"So of course, I went along with her plan. I plotted and devised a plan to steal Fairy Godmother's wand so I could free them. Evie, inadvertly might I add, got information out of Doug, and forcing Jay and Carlos into cooperating was easy enough. I spelled Ben in order to become his girlfriend and stand closer to the wand… Obviously, that backfired greatly because I ended up falling for him" Her eyes flashed green again, and this time it stayed, which made Tiara hold Mal's hand.

"So Ben invited us to Family Day. And it was all going great until I met Queen Leah" Tiara stiffened. She had been young when her sister disappeared in Auradon, but she remembers her words were not kind to Aragon and his family.

"It was fine, really. She was curious about me but eventually moved along… Until Audrey pointed out who I was… That's when everything went south. She blamed me for my mother's wrongdoings. And then Chad started calling us names and Evie knocked him out with a potion I gave her. And I realized right then that it was it. We couldn't stay there. Ben was supposed to become the King, but his people were not happy about it, especially not since he invited us. They thought he was stupid for bringing us to their precious country. I realized we would never be accepted. We would always be the Villains Kids. We would always live under our parent's shadow, no matter what we did. And we are so much more than that. We deserved better than that. So we left. And please don't send us back, I'm begging you"

"Mal you need to go back. Ben truly loves you, and he needs you. You saw him at the party… You have nothing to prove to Auradon, because you have Ben's acceptance and that should be more than enough to you… Go back to him"

"I can't Tiara. I really can't do it"

"We'll have to get married if you don't!" Tiara blurted out, stunning Mal on the spot. "Not the way I wanted to bring this up but… Ben and I will have to get married if none of us finds true. And he already did, in you! He's like a brother to me, so the idea of marrying him is not appealing at all. Mal, please consider it… You don't even have to move back to Auradon. You four could live here, but you need to get back together with Ben. He loves you, and if he wants to make you his Queen, Auradon can't do anything about it"

"I'm not ready for that, I'm sorry Tiara…"

She knew she would be in trouble for this the rest of her life, but she could not stop her body when her hand, very sharply, connected with Mal's cheek. Green eyes locked on her and she would have to be fast to avoid turning into a lizard, too.

"MAL! Can you at least try to call Ben? I'll give you a private number… He needs to know you are safe, so he can at least rest assured you guys are fine?" She waited for a green ball of magic to hit her but she only saw green eyes completely wide and shocked "Mal?"

"You'd be a better Queen than me"

"I don't wanna be Queen, Mal! I don't even want my own throne. I hate this! My sister's death brought on so many responsibilities, and everyone in Maldonia expects _me_ to fulfill them. I can't take on Auradon too. I can't reign on a country where the expectative of perfection is so high! That Kingdom would fall if I marry Ben! We would never be happy, and I would never birth the Heir they would expect because there is _no way_ I would do _that_ with Ben. I love him Mal, I truly do. But he's like a brother to me. And it kills me to see him suffer. But I would never love him enough, and he wouldn't ever love me back"

She could see the wheels spinning in Mal's head as she took in her sudden ourbust, breathing deeply trying to calm herself.

"You love him" Mal whispered, and Tiara turned to her confused.

"That's what I just sa-"

"Aragon. You love him. You love him as much as I love Ben and you don't wanna hurt him… I… I keep screwing up, don't i? I mean… I keep ripping the happiness away from those around me. I took Doug from Evie, Dude from Carlos, Tourney from Jay… And now my decision to leave is tearing you apart from Aragon"

"You can't tear apart something that's never been… Can you at least call Ben? Let him know you guys are safe… It would help him to keep his mind at ease, at least he would be able to sleep. He needs to know you are ok. Do it for me at least?"

"I will call him. But I don't wanna leave Maldonia… Can you accept that for now?"

"Yes ma'am!" Tiara laughed, hugging the blonde "You are better than you think Mal, and you are worthy of love. You have plenty of it, don't shut Ben out because of some snubs"

"I… I'll try"

* * *

 **AN** : I am _so so sorry_. I'm not dead i promise. I know i said i had the draft for this ready but life happened and my laptop's charger died so i had to start over in a new one and _then_ there were soo many college assigments and the holidays(i dont have internet at home, just at the dorm) and to make it all better i have a massive writters block with this... I am truly sorry it took me this long to update and i'm even more sorry if this chapter is not what you expected. I did eveything i could to get it out and i still feel it's not good enough. Thank you soo much for all your reviews and favs, they mean a lot to me.

I won't make any promises as to when is the next update coming up, but believe me when i say i am trying. And i really hope to finish it. Dont forget to R/R and once again, i'm sorry.


	8. Chapter 8

_Non-beta'd. All mistakes are mine._

 _ **Disclaimer:**_ _I do not own Descendants or any official Disney character._

* * *

MAL/MALDONIA

"So… What was all that about?" Evie asked as soon as she stepped into their shared dorm, looking slightly better than when she'd seen her in the morning.

"She knows, E" she sighed, sitting next to Evie on her bed, feeling the tears return "She knows who we are. Where we came from…"

"Is she sending us back?" she felt arms wrap around her, although she could hear in Evie's voice that she already knew the answer.

"No she's… She's not sending us back… But I had to compromise" she said quietly, taking a deep breath "I have to call Ben. Let him know we're safe… He's miserable, E. He's miserable and it's all my fault!" she sobbed, letting her friend embrace her "Everyone… I ruined everyone's life"

"No Mal, no… You didn't ruin anything. We knew what we were doing when we came here. Mal, it's not your fault" Evie said, her arms tightening around her body, but she couldn't stop the sobs now.

"He was here last night" she started, feeling her friend still her movements "Right after you left. He didn't recognize me but… He loves me, he really loves me and I… He wants me back. But I just can't…" she sobbed "I don't know what to do E. I don't know… I can't…"

"Hey it's okay… We'll figure it out. Together, like always"

"They'll have to get married if I don't go back. Tiara is miserable here and she hates Auradon but if neither of them has found true love by their eighteen birthday they'll have to marry eachother… She doesn't want that. I can't let them do that… But I don't wanna go back. I can't go back E"

She sobbed as she felt Evie stand from the bed, lifting her eyes when she felt someone standing in front of her.

"Mal, we'll figure it out. Two years it's a lot of time. We have time. You don't know how you'll feel in two years. Or next year. Hell, we could all decide to go back in a couple of weeks. But whatever we do, we'll do it together. We are family, and I won't let you go through this alone" Evie said, smiling softly at her "I'll talk to Ben. I think I can handle that. No one can force you to do something you aren't ready for. It's okay"

"You'll really call Ben?"

"I will. Don't worry that pretty blonde head of yours"

EVIE/MALDONIA

She was sitting in the boys room along with Mal, a quite old cellphone in her hand.

"I gotta give it to T, that thing is so old there's no way Ben can track it down" Carlos said, as he fidgeted with a controller "I used one of those to get radio from Auradon back on the Isle"

They boys had been updated on what was happening, and she had gone to Tiara asking for the phone. She wasn't pleased at the fact that Mal didn't wanted to make the call herself, but understood that she wasn't ready, and knew that Ben would be relieved to hear they were all okay, even if it wasn't from Mal herself.

"Are you guys ready?" she asked quietly, flipping the phone open. They wouldn't be able to hear the conversation, but she needed for them to be there as support. She was talking to Ben, not Doug, but that didn't make the task any less daunting.

"Keep it short. Longer than two minutes and they could track us" Carlos warned one last time, and the she got a nod from all of them.

"Alright then, here we go" she let out a breath, calling the pre-saved number. Tiara gave them Ben's personal number to make sure him and only him answered the call.

" _Hello?"_

"Ben?"

" _Yeah… Wait who's this? How did you get my number?"_

"It's… It's Evie" she said quietly, waiting for an answer. There was a silence on the line, until she heard a heavy breath.

" _Evie? As… Evie! Where are you? Where's Mal? Are you okay? I'll come get you just tell me where you are"_

She could hear the excitement in his voice as he shuffled through things, and she could only guess he was grabbing stuff to get them. She felt horrible.

"No Ben! Wait… We… We're Okay. All of us, we're fine and healthy don't worry"

" _Don't worry? You are asking me that? Really?... Look, just tell me where you are, it's okay. Everything will be okay"_

"No Ben, it won't. We… We are not going back. Not yet" she saw the way Mal tensed on the bed, and sighed "We just wanted you to know we are fine. I'm sorry we left, Ben. Really, I'm truly sorry, but we had to do it. It wasn't… It wasn't good for us to stay there"

" _I know everything went wrong that day. I messed up, but… Just let me fix it. Where's Mal? Why won't she talk to me?"_

"It's not that easy, Ben. We'll go back to Auradon when we're ready. I promise I'll call to let you know we're fine"

She could literally feel the despair coming in waves through the phone, and she was honestly glad that Tiara insisted on a simply call and not a video one.

" _What about Doug? Evie he misses you like crazy. We miss you all"_ she flinched, and she honestly wanted to yell at him, because that was low. But she couldn't, his heart was aching as much as hers, and she wasn't sure she wouldn't have done the same.

"Tell him that I'm sorry. That I truly am sorry and that I love him. I have to go, Ben."

" _No… Evie please… I need her"_

"I'm sorry, Ben. Goodnight"

She hung up the phone and closed her eyes, trying to control the emotions she knew her friends could see anyways. Ben had sounded so broken. And Doug…

"He's miserable, isn't he?" Mal asked in a voice that told her she was trying to detach herself from the situation, but was failing miserably "He wants us back"

"Yes, he wanted to come find us as soon as he registered it was me" there was no point in lying, she could see the turmoil in their faces "I don't think this call is going to help him much"

"Well, it's the closest he's been to talking with Mal knowingly in six months. He'll be desperate now" Jay stated from the window he was perched on "When Mal's ready, she should be the next to call"

"Jay…" she warned.

"I'm going back" her eyes snapped to her friend, and she knew the only expression on her face was horror right now "I have to. I can't…"

"No. We'll go back when we're ready. Not yet. If we go back now, nothing will be different. They'll treat us like crap and we'll be miserable and hate everything and everyone. And then we'll resent each other for going back when we weren't ready. We are not going back. It won't happen" Carlos said as he stood up and paced the room, and she had to sadly agree.

"We can't go back yet, Mal. We aren't ready. It wouldn't be fair… Trust us, please"

She saw her friend crumble, and after a quick glance, Carlos joined her on hugging their friend.

"I just…"

"Don't. We get it M, it's okay"

They stayed huddled on the boys dorm until late that night, agreeing that trying to continue with their lives in Maldonia was the best they could do right now. They had issues, rooted in them from their childhood on the Isle, and until they learned how to solve them, they wouldn't be ready to face Auradon again.

TIARA/MALDONIA

"Do you really think forcing Mal to call Ben was a good idea?" Aragon asked as they sat in her room, trying to focus on the game they were playing.

"Evie's doing the call… I just… I wanna help them. All of them. Ben's miserable, and I don't know how I didn't noticed before but so are the guys. Mal is closed off, Evie deflect all kinds of personal questions, Carlos basically lives at the dog shelter to hide and Jay picks fights just to let out stem… How couldn't I notice that?"

"They were raised to be deceiving, T" He paused the game and turned to face her "I've been think a lot about this and I think it's time I say this to you" she frowned at him but he stopped her from talking "I love you, Tiara. And I know… I know they won't let us be together. I know that what happened in Auradon will forever haunt me. I know people will always blame me for what happened with your sister even if I don't know what really happened… But I just… I had to tell you"

She closed her eyes when she felt him move closer, resting her forehead against him "I know. I love you too… I just wish the world could see how amazing you are. How amazing we could be" she let a tear roll down her cheek "I wish I didn't have to follow all these rules… Why couldn't my parents have another child" she let out a watery laugh at Aragon's chuckle.

"I'm going to Auradon next week"

"What?"

"It's Melody's birthday. My parents called me… And I think… I wanna try finding out what happened to your sister"

"Aragon…"

"I just… I want my chance to be with you, and finding out what happened to her might be my only hope… I can't… I don't think I'd be able to handle seeing you marry some random foreign king. Even if it's Ben" he sighed, taking her hands in his "I need to do this. I promise I'll be back"

She nodded, because she couldn't trust her voice at the moment, before letting out a choked laugh "Who's going to help me wrangle our group of misfits?"

"I think you can handle them for a week. Evie runs an iron fist on them"

* * *

 _ **AN:** Wow. Yesterday was the 2-year anniversary of this fic, and It took me almost 2 years to update this, eh? I'm truly amazed at the amount of love i received during this time, and all the people that encouraged me to continue this. Thank you all!_

 _First off, i want to apologize. All i can say is, that apart from being terrible at keeping update TL's, life got in the way(college), i had a massive writer's block, and then i kinda lost interest in the movies, as i've gotten older and i got interested in other stuff. I'm putting this up, with no promises of an update, although i will try to keep my word and finish this. Thanks for sticking around guys! -OHP_


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